Diagnosing migraine in children and adolescence using ID migraine: results of an Italian multicenter validation

Background: Since migraine is the most frequent neurological condition, an early diagnosis is important to limit the impact of the disease on the quality of life. Although migraine diagnosis is based on the International Classification of Headache Disorders 3rd edition (ICHD3) criteria, other briefer questionnaires have been developed, especially for screening purpose. While the three-item ID Migraine has proved useful for migraine diagnosis in adulthood, no validated tools are available for children and adolescents. The aim of this study is to validate ID Migraine also in pediatric patients. Results: The Italian ID Migraine for adulthood was completed by 289 pediatric patients (mean age 12.14 ± 3.15, range 6-17) who attended three third-level pediatric headache centers. Clinical and neurological examinations were performed, and the final diagnosis was reached according to the ICHD3 criteria. The migraine group consisted of 230 patients, and the control group consisted of 59 patients who received headache diagnoses different from migraine. We considered the ID migraine positive whether 2 out of 3 responses were 'yes'. ID migraine for diagnosis of pediatric migraine showed a sensitivity of 0.86 (86%), a specificity of 0.95 (95%), a positive predictive value (PPV) of 0.98 (98%) and a negative predictive value (NPV) 0.64 (64%). Conclusion: ID Migraine can be considered a valid tool for migraine diagnosis also in pediatric age, starting from the age of 6 years.